One of the most pressing issues facing American society is the growing economic isolation of millions of young men, often from minority communities. The scale and scope of the problem are outlined in a new study of nearly one hundred American cities by Measure of America, a policy group.
As reported in the New York Times, the study indicates that more than five point five million people ages sixteen to twenty four are neither working nor in school, which represents a significantly larger group than existed before the recession. At a time when the economy requires workers to supply more and higher levels of skills, one in seven American adults can barely get started due to a lack of human capital formation.
The depth of disengagement varies by race and place. Nationally, twenty one point six percent of African-American youth are neither working nor in school compared with sixteen point three percent of Latinos, eleven point three percent of whites and seven point nine percent of Asians. In nine metropolitan areas, at least one in four African-American youths are disengaged. Neither Baltimore nor Washington is among those nine metropolitan areas.
